The present invention relates to a card reader and an electronic device for handling a card having magnetic stripes or an IC chip for reading and writing information.
A conventional card reader, as shown in FIG. 9, comprises:
a. a card inserting part 101 in which a card 10 is inserted,
b. a slider 105 moving together with the card when the card is inserted,
c. an eject spring 109 energized in an eject direction,
d. a flat spring 107 for pushing in the card thickness direction when the card is inserted,
e. a slider locking part 106A of a slider connection part 106 for stopping and locking the slider 105 at a prescribed position where the slider 105 is inserted,
f. a solenoid 125 for unlocking the latch,
g. a plunger 126 assembled in the solenoid 125,
h. a pin 126A in the plunger 126 for latching with the slider locking part 106A,
i. a spring 127 for energizing the plunger 126 in the latching direction, and
j. a card-detecting switch 108 for detecting when the card is inserted into a prescribed position.
The eject spring 109 is hooked on a first protrusion 120 of the card reader main body 102 and a second protrusion 121 of the slider 105.
As the card is inserted, and when the slider 105 is moved up to a Prescribed position, the slider locking part 106A of the slider connection part 106 is hooked on the pin 126A of the plunger 126. As, a result, the slider 105 is stopped at the prescribed position. The plunger 126 is assembled in the solenoid 125.
The inserted card is ejected when a direct current is passed through the solenoid 125 for a specific time. That is, by passing a direct current into the solenoid 125 for a specific time, the plunger 126 in the solenoid 125 is attracted into the solenoid 125. It causes to unlock the latch of the pin 126A fitted to the slider locking part 106A of the slider 105 and the plunger 126 of the solenoid 125. As a result, by the energizing force of the eject spring 109, the card is ejected into the card inserting part 101 together with the slider 105. At this time, the energizing force of the eject spring 109 is set so as to eject by overcoming the pressure of the flat spring 107 pressing the card 10.
However, for example, when the card reader is used as being incorporated in a small handy type device, the card reader and the device incorporating it can be moved to change in place easily. For instance, the card reader and the device incorporating it can be lifted, rotated, or put on a desk or table carelessly, and impact or vibration is applied to the card reader and the device at that time. In particular, when impact is applied in the moving direction of the plunger 126 of the solenoid 125, a moment in the unlatching direction is generated, and the latch of the slider locking part 106A may be unlocked. If the slider locking part 106A of the slider 105 is unlatched while communicating with a host device such as a host computer by inserting a card, the card is ejected by the eject spring 109 for energizing the slider 105 in the eject direction. In this case, the information cannot be read or written securely. This was a problem of a conventional card reader.
When the card is inserted into the depth side of the card reader, the slider 105 is latched, and the card-detecting switch 108 detects insertion of the card, and the card is in a held state. While a card eject command signal is not issued, the card-detecting switch 108 is in an active state, and the IC contact 104 contacts with the IC terminal on the card, and information is read and written with the host device. At this time, if the card 10 is drawn out, the slider 105 remains latched, and the IC terminal of the card 10 is separated from the IC contact 104 by force. As a result, the information in the IC chip of the card is broken, and may not be usable.
The invention is to solve the above problems, and it is hence an object thereof to present a card reader and an electronic device in a structure that does not allow the connection part of the slider, which holds the card at a position for reading and writing card data in the card reader, to be unlocked easily by external impact or vibration. The structure also enables a stable ejection of the card.
To achieve the object, the card reader of the invention comprises:
a. a card guide path for guiding a card into the device,
b. a card holder for holding the card at a prescribed position in the device,
c. a card position retainer for retaining the position of the card held by the card holder even if an external force is applied,
d. a motor for generating a power to eject the card, and
e. a gear mechanism for transmitting the driving force of the motor to the card directly or indirectly, in which:
f. the gear mechanism retains the position of the card before driving force from the motor is applied, or
g. the motor generates driving force for ejecting the card by a card eject command signal.